Immigration and DACA on the Ground

What is DACA and how does it work? What is the process for applying for asylum or refugee status?

What is the process for legal immigration. How long does it take? What does it cost?

Our panel leads us through the labyrinth.

Maria G. Cortez-Perez is a Junior at Wake Forest University majoring in sociology. Maria has been involved with immigrant rights advocacy and activism since she graduated high school back in 2014. She shared her story with many in the community Greensboro, High Point and now in Winston-Salem. Maria also coordinated the NC In-state Tuition Equity Campaign with Let’s Learn Triad from it’s inception under American Friends Service Committee. She also created a youth program with the Latino Family Center of High Point at the YWCA – Hispanic Students Avance – where the program is still flourishing and helping many students of the greater High Point area. Now that Maria is at Wake Forest University as a DACA-mented/undocumented individual she wants to pursue law school and serve her community one day as a lawyer.

Sharon E. Dunmore serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Associate Trial Attorney and Advocate for Gate City Legal Services, in the areas of Criminal Defense, Immigration, and Family Law. Attorney Dunmore practices law in the North Carolina state court, as well as the Executive Office of Immigration Review Charlotte Immigration Court.

Originally from Brooklyn, New York, Attorney Dunmore arrived in North Carolina in 2010. She is a 2013 graduate of Guilford College, with Bachelors Degrees in Criminal Justice and Anthropology.

Attorney Dunmore subsequently attended Elon University School of Law, and graduated in 2016. During law school, she was actively involved in the Elon University Humanitarian Immigration Law Clinic, where she successfully led a service trip to an immigrant family detention center in Karnes, Texas. Attorney Dunmore also served on the Trial Advocacy Board for Elon Law’s Mock Trial competition team. During law school, she maintained internships at immigration firms, as well as the Office of the Guilford County Public Defender.

Moises Serrano is an openly undocumented and queer activist and storyteller. Since coming out as undocumented in 2010 he has relentlessly pursued equality for his community through the sharing of his narrative. His mission is to de-criminalize and humanize the issue of migration while advocating for immediate relief to migrant communities. Moises quickly became one of the most requested speakers in the state of North Carolina. Described as a “consummate orator,” his advocacy has led him to lead a Tedx talk in Greensboro and to be named a notable Latino of the triad. Moises’ advocacy has been filmed in the feature length documentary, Forbidden: Undocumented & Queer in Rural America. The five-time award winning film was recently honored by the Television Academy. Forbidden was one of seven programs honored for creating awareness, enlightening, educating and/or positively motivating audiences. Moises officially became a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College in May of 2018.

Immigration Stories, a joint project of Scuppernong Books and the Greensboro Bound Literary Festival, will explore the immigration and refugee experience in America through the lens of writing: fiction, non-fiction, and works for children. We’ll highlight the stories of the immigrant and refugee population as well as the issues, especially as they impact and affect the local community. Immigration Stories responds directly to these issues by providing the community with the opportunity to interact and engage in a series of public readings, panel discussions, and conversations with writers, scholars, and their neighbors. For more information, call 336-763-1919.

This project is made possible in part by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide non-profit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.